196 SNAKES OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS 



Boiga Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia (1860) 264; Stejne- 

 GEE, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington 15 (1902) 16; BARBOUR, Mem. 

 Mus. Comp. Zool. Harv. Coll. 44 (1912) 126. 



Pappophis Macleay, Proc. Linn. Soc. N. S. W. 2 (1877) 39. 



Dipsas Boulengee, Fauna Brit. India, Rept. (1890) 357. 



Liophalhts Cope, Proc. Acad. Nat. Sci. Philadelphia (1894) 427. 



"Maxillary teeth 10 to 14, subequal in size, followed by two 

 or three enlarged, grooved fangs; anterior mandibular teeth 

 longest. Head very distinct from neck; eye moderate or large, 

 with vertically elliptic pupil ; posterior nasal more or less deeply 

 concave. ' Body more or less compressed ; scales smooth, more 

 or less oblique, with apical pits, in 17 to 31 rows, the vertebral 

 row more or less enlarged; ventrals obtusely angulate laterally. 

 Tail moderate or long; subcaudals in two rows." {Boulenger.) 



The genus is distributed through tropical Africa, southern 

 China, Malay Archipelago, Papuasia, Australia, and Philippines. 



Key to the Philippine species of Boiga Fit:ingcr.* 



o'. Anterior palatine teeth but slightly enlarged. 



6\ Snout longer than diameter of eye; scales in 21 rows; body with 



numerous black and yellow bars B. dendrophila (Boie) (p. 197). 



b'. Snout as long as eye; scales in 19 rows; grayish or yellowish brown, 

 with brown spots and crossbars, the latter extending across belly. 



B. angulata (Peters) (p. 204). 

 a-. Anterior palatine teeth strongly enlarged. 



6\ Scales in 19 rows; brownish yellow above with black crossbar.s. 



B. philippina (Peters) (p. 206). 

 b". Scales in 23 to 25 rows; head large; body brownish, barred with 

 black, or uniform fawn color without trace of markings. 



B. cynodou (Boie) (p. 206). 



These snakes are arboreal in habit and, with the exception of 

 the first, rare. The large size of the eyes suggests their noc- 

 turnal habits. They prey largely on warm-blooded animals, such 

 as birds and small mammals. The body is elongate, compressed, 

 and the neck is usually slender. Boiga angulata and B. philip- 

 pina are restricted to the Philippines; B. doidropliila and B. 

 cynodon. are widely distributed. 



These snakes have two or three grooved fangs in the posterior 

 part of the maxillae. This indicates that they are equipped with 

 poison which probably would prove deadly only to birds and 

 small mammals. There is no record to show that they are 

 deadly to man, and it is almost certain that they are not. 



* Casto de Elera, Cat. Fauna Filipinas 1 (1895) 446, lists B. drapeezii 

 Boie and B. fusca Gray from the Philippines, and two unidentified species. 

 The records of the first two are erroneous. 



